Elle Canada, published by Transcontinental Media Inc., is launching its first ever consumer show. The Elle Show will be held April 24-27 at the Direct Energy Centre at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. “The inspiration is really to bring the pages of the magazine to life,” says Avra Goldenblatt, director of communications and promotions at Elle. 

Elle Canada, an offshoot of the Elle brand created by Hachette Fillipacchi (the planet's largest consumer magazine publisher), will host fashion lovers from across the continent at The Elle Show.

“If you look at other categories like food and home, they all have consumer events.” She says Elle readers have been asking for events and extensions of the magazine, but until now the only options were for people in the industry. “Toronto Fashion week is a show for the trade. Elle is a magazine for consumers,” she says. “So we feel that this is a fantastic opportunity to bring the magazine, and bring the fashion world, to consumers.”

The three-day event will highlight nine runway shows and include seminars and exhibits hosted by beauty and fashion experts. They will involve health and wellness seminars, beauty seminars, makeovers and more. Goldenblatt says the “celebrities” are still being confirmed.

The show will kick off with Toronto Fashion Incubator’s (TFI) New Label Design competition gala. The night will include a cocktail party, dinner and fashion show competition, for which Elle is a sponsor.

The Elle Show is an extension of other Elle initiatives, like the Elle Beauty Grand Prix, which is a “blind testing beauty product competition” that is run each year in conjunction with Elle Québec, Goldenblatt says.